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Review: Baby Driver

Do you ever feel like you’re seeing a different movie than everyone else? Baby Driver is getting mostly raves as a cool action flick with heart but I got word from someone I’ve never met before that Baby Driver was junk. Someone knew what he was talking about. Oh sure, the music is great, but the thing that makes a Quentin Tarantino film (I have heard Baby Driver often compared to Pulp Fiction) amazing is that the music underscores the action on screen, it enhances it and makes the film more of an experience. Take the music away and the film is still strong. With Baby Driver what you have is a crazy great soundtrack over a truly mediocre film with plot holes you could drive a Subaru Impreza WRX STI through. No need to even discuss the barely-there performances of Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx and Kevin Spacey.

What really got under my skin as I watched Baby drive all over Atlanta (my hometown) from Dunwoody to Downtown is that it’s next to impossible to get to where he went how he got there. Also, The Healey Building isn’t a dump. Buford Highway is all traffic lights – nobody would choose it as an escape route from anything other than moving forward rapidly. The foot chase on the Georgia State University is the most realistic one but for those of us who know this town like the back of our hand, the haphazard routes are weird. This film is supposed to be a “love letter” to Atlanta and I guess I’m just not feeling the love.

Really, really short review: Get back in your car and drive away from Baby Driver.